Discovery
I discovered my new tree from a group of seedlings purchased from a nursery in Texas. The group of seedlings were growing in a nursery production field of Trident maples as randomly open pollinated Acer buergerianum seedlings during the fall of 1997. This group of seedlings was grown in a liner field and then transplanted to an adjacent production field in Loganville, Walton County, Ga. during the winter of 1999. It was here that I discovered the claimed cultivar ‘ABFSS.’
Propagation
‘ABFSS’ was asexually propagated by the method of vegetative cutting at my direction in the summer of 2002 in Loganville, Ga. Softwood cuttings three to five inches long were treated with 3000 ppm potassium indole-3-butyric acid (KIBA). The cuttings were then placed in peat pots filled with horticultural growing media and then intermittently misted for a period of five to six weeks. Currently our success rate for this method exceeds 70%.
Uniqueness
Seedling Trident maples are very diverse due to genetic variability in leaf size, branch structure, bark exfoliation and growth rate. The claimed cultivar was notably different from others in this seedling block due to its vertical branch structure and fastigiate form. This invention has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions, but the progeny of ‘ABFSS’ have repeatedly shown that these characteristics are genetically stable.
Use
‘ABFSS’ has been observed for several years, and I believe it to be very useful for urban street plantings and commercial sites where a narrow, upright, medium-sized maple species is required.